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There is a very convenient myth that the greatest composers of the
past were men whose genius cannot be reasonably accounted for. It is
a seductive argument, if only because it encourages a clear and simple
view of any musical age, in which its great composers stand our as
isolated eruptions of genius. It also saves us the trouble of exploring
the surrounding area where, for all we know, we will find only bluffs
and impasses.

Convenient this myth may be, but there is no evidence that the great
composers would themselves have subscribed to it. Take Bach, who
evidently thought enough of Buxtehude’s music to walk 200 miles to
Lubeck to hear him play: when we listen to Buxtehude, we see why Bach
thought the journey so worthwhile. Then consider Palestrina, who was,
until recently, the only name to be widely known from the circle of
composers associated with the Vatican of the late Renaissance. True,
Palestrina was evidently so uniquely esteemed that he held positions in
both the Capella Sistina and the Capella Giulia of St. Peter’s, but as a
composer he was far from isolated. Rome, as the centre of
Christianity, acted as a fulcrum for church composers, and it is
probable that Palestrina met Victoria and Lassus during their time
spent in the city.

Yet it was not just foreign composers who influenced Palestrina. In
particular, the name of Giovanni Animuccia seems virtually synonymous
with that of Palestrina. Born in Florence in the early years of the
sixteenth century, in 1555 he succeeded Palestrina (who was his junior
by some 15 years) as maestro di capella at St. Peter’s, Rome. Animuccia
held this position until his death in 1571, at which point Palestrina
returned to St. Peter’s. Whether or not Animucica formally taught
Palestrina is not known, but in their clear harmonic sense and close
correlation of text and music, stylistically the two have much in
common.

Animuccia’s Missa Victimae Paschali Laudes was published in
Rome in 1567. The collection in which this mass appears claims that the
music has been written “according to the stipulations of the Council
of Trent” – in other words, with the Counter-Reformation ethics of
simplicity and intelligibility to the fore. In fact, this six-part mass,
which is chordal only fleetingly, could scarcely be described as a
simple work. In one respect the Missa Victimae Paschali Laudes
is sympathetic to the wishes of the Council, however, and that is in its
dignified and serious style. It is based on the Easter sequence
Victimae Paschali Laudes, a minor mode melody. Treated with a measure of
freedom, the melody appears throughout the mass in one of the soprano
lines, but by means of imitation, is referred to in all parts.

Despite the title of its theme, Animuccia’s Victimae Paschali Laudes
could have been performed on virtually any day of the church’s year.
However, its expansive style is perfectly suited to the lavishness of a
major liturgical feast. On Easter Sunday, guns on the battlements of
the Castel Sant Angelo announced the celebration of Mass in St.
Peter’s. It is this context which we have recreated here to frame the
music of two major figures of the age – Palestrina and Animuccia.